Air Force awards WindBorne up to $49 million for weather-balloon data

WindBorne Systems’ new Air Force contract carries a ceiling of $49 million, but orders so far total $1.7 million. The service is buying data from autonomous weather balloons, paying as it needs readings rather than committing the full amount upfront. TechCrunch reported the award on October 12, describing it as WindBorne’s largest contract yet.

Orders tied to place and time

The purchasing arrangement lets the Air Force request data for specific regions at specific times. WindBorne executives expect additional orders, but the contract’s maximum value depends on what the service buys. The $1.7 million ordered to date is the concrete purchasing activity behind the much larger headline figure.

WindBorne already works with the National Weather Service, Air Force and Navy. This award builds on those government relationships, with atmospheric observations as the purchased product—not a newly announced forecasting model. Co-founder and chief technology officer Andrey Sushko told TechCrunch that the contract could support both fleet growth and improvements to the balloons.

This is largely a vehicle through which continued growth of the constellation can be supported, as well as some work on research and development to continue to improve the hardware and performance of the balloons,

Andrey Sushko, WindBorne co-founder and CTO, speaking to TechCrunch

A sensor fleet that also feeds AI

WindBorne has about 700 weather balloons flying around the world, collecting atmospheric sensor readings. It sells those observations to customers and also feeds them into its own AI weather-forecasting model. The fleet therefore supplies two parts of the business: data for buyers and measurements for WindBorne’s forecasting system.

The balloons travel on winds rather than engine power. WindBorne steers them by changing their altitude, releasing air or dropping sand carried as ballast. Those adjustments move the balloons into winds that carry them toward the desired locations.

Sushko described navigation as relying on two ingredients: good wind and weather models, and enough balloons positioned in the right places. That connects the company’s forecasting work to the operation of its sensor fleet, not just to the predictions it produces for customers.

The company’s case for a no-bid award

Sushko said the contract was awarded without competitive bidding. He characterized the award as a government determination that WindBorne was the only company able to collect global data in a way that met the Air Force’s operational needs. That explanation is WindBorne’s account of why the service selected it.